The Terran Republic
The Terran Republic is the original - and largest - interplanetary government of humanity. Based on Earth in the Sol system, the Republic is dominated by the influence of shadowy and powerful metacorporations - massive companies that drive the politics of humanity behind the scenes, often for pure profit, but also for other motivations. History :Main article: Timeline of Human History The Terran Republic has come a long way since the time of twenty-first century Earth, with human beings now inhabiting other worlds as fledgling colonies. Standing apart from the alien Conclave many claim that humans will find their own future, while others eye the xenophobia that's hard to deny in such a position. Society and Culture Identity Spread as it is over many distant worlds, humanity has changed a great deal from the present. In some senses it is fractured - a multitude of planetary governments and overseers as well as a massive socio-economic divide have kept academics and politicians busy trying to maintain some sense of cohesion. In other ways, humanity is more linked together than ever in the face of a large number of alien races. When one of the main ways of distinguishing yourself isn’t just “Chinese-American-Indian background”, but “human” in the face of forming some sense of identity, the commonality with fellow humans falls out just a little more. Nevertheless, some things remain the same. People still attempt to cling to local groupings over others, though these tend to be somewhat larger in scope. Rather than thinking of themselves as being from a particular nation or ethnic group, your average human will think of themselves as part of a distinct location or other group within their local city first (given that the majority of humanity are post-colonial) with their strongest higher-level identity being defined by their colony. Technology also plays a large role in defining what it is to be human. First and foremost is the hi-, lo-gen divide. “Genetically planned” individuals tend to fill the more important roles within both the Terran Republic and the Free Terran Systems, while those whose parents could not afford such expensive procedures are left with limited options, resulting either in conditions bordering on wage-slavery (in the Republic) or executing the orders of their supposed betters (in the Free Systems). Beyond genetic technology, space travel and the human colonies changes how people think of movement. Where once shifting from Auckland to London was a huge undertaking, the same thinking now finds a rough analogue in a shift from one colony world to another (or maybe even beyond). The majority of people on more fully developed worlds see themselves as having their entire world open to them, and for the most part they’re correct. Even citizens of developing colonies see their restriction on planetary movement as only a matter of time. Combining genetics and advances in nanotechnology also means that, even for portions of the lo-gen population, life-spans are now measured nearer to the 120 year mark with the aging process retarded so that our accepted stages of life are now spread out of that time period. Wealthier citizens can even expand further beyond that with access to experimental techniques and cybernetic replacement, though some become less and less human as they advance their quest for effective immortality. Relations with others are perhaps the most marked difference between the Republic and the FTS, however. Citizens of the Republic tend to be somewhat introspective and xenophobic, seeing preserving the “human way of life” in the face of alien cultures and beliefs as being extremely important. While this doesn’t usually extend to outright hostility, there is a distinct chill between the Republic and the majority of alien races (with the possible exception of the similarly minded Froan). Life in the Republic Life within the Republic is starkly divided between the hi-gen and lo-gen socio-economic groups. The Hi-gen almost uniformly experience an almost idyllic lifestyle. With the majority of the wealth of the Republic at their fingertips, they have almost any opportunity open to them. That said, the stakes are somewhat higher. The politics of the Republic runs on money, and there is a constant push for members of a hi-gen dynasty to forever excel others within their social class. While the lo-gen can be though to have peers, the vast majority of hi-gen humans are brought up to regard other families and other hi-gen humans within their spheres of interest as rivals. As for the lo-gen, most pragmatically attempt to get on with their lives. While some of the dirtiest jobs (mining, refining, deep-space freighter crew, and so forth) are performed by lo-gen humans, so are a number of high quality service professions, affording some measure of quality of life (though somewhat dependent on their hi-gen employers). Low-level clerks, valets, research assistants, and so forth, can often be lo-gen humans. The fact, however, that most front-line data services (bank tellers, accounts, even legal secretary) have been taken by capable computer agents leaves something of a gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” within the lo-gen socio-economic group. Fortunately, life on new colonies affords many opportunities to lo-gen humans, leaving employment rates to be quite high within the Republic. Favourite pastimes within the Republic include sport and the arts, though both are largely manufactured by entertainment conglomerates. Oddly enough, a large number of local sports teams tend to be populated by lo-gen humans. Entertainment analysts suggest that such events are popular amongst the lo-gen humans because of the lack of identification with their hi-gen counterparts, and amongst the hi-gen humans because of the hardship it represents. Still, extreme sports (including some zero-g sports) include only hi-gen participants, but these are highly regulated with genetic testing and tend to bring in fewer lo-gen viewers. Most athletes and sports personalities often suffer the same fate as music artists within the Republic. Music tends to be highly manufactured along set formulas, but centuries of entertainment industry research results in many of these become popular. There is next to no money in album sales any longer, and most tracks are just broadcast free of charge across information networks. The real money comes in agents encouraging cults of celebrity around their clients then engaging in lucrative marketing deals. As a result, consumer entertainment is now less about the entertainment product itself, but more about using an “artist” as a vehicle for other products. There are some “independent” artists (often, though not exclusively lo-gen), but their lack of willingness to play along with the established industry results in them either switching to another profession very quickly when they don’t get enough cash to survive, or actually developing something of an underground following of contributors (some even finding wealthy hi-gen patrons). Unfortunately, those artists that do manage to find themselves with something of an underground following tend to become the focus of Republic security interest, as they can be focal-points of secessionist or rebellious tendencies. Government and Politics The Republic as written is governed by a familiar tripartite system. The Senate is made up of representatives from the intra-solar colonies, with numbers based on population figures and legal framework. There are no representatives from the extra-solar colonies, however, with each these being governed by a separate (often corporate) authority, regulated by the Senate Colonial Oversight Commission (SECCOM). While some colonies chafe under this lack of federal representation, many focus their efforts on their local authorities, as they are usually given some measure of free reign over governance. Judicial matters are predictably governed by the court system, ending with the Supreme Court of the Terran Republic, which has the power to rule on legislation passed by the senate. Jury trials are almost unheard of within the Republic, however, with the court system taking on more of an inquisitorial system. Most major trials are presided over by a single Justice supported by two (or more) Magistrates who question witnesses and hear arguments from counsel. The vast majority of trials, however (such as theft, common assault, and other such crimes) are presided over by a single magistrate. Finally, the executive is represented in the Office of the President. A largely ceremonial office, the President still has constitutional powers relating to legislation, as well as the role as Commander-in-chief of standing military forces. Within the Republic, however, this includes the police and security services, though oversight of these duties are usually handled solely by Presidential advisors. While that’s all good in theory, in practice the government exists, more or less, at the whims of the metacorporations. Each branch of the government is largely filled as a result of back-room deals and shadowy infighting amongst these large corporate bodies. Senators’ campaigns are bought by one shell-company or another, with the largest metacorporations playing the Presidential and Judicial games. Presidential advisors (including military and security advisors) tend to have existing relationships with the metacorporations and don’t have term limits. Often it is these individuals that decide the true power within the Republic. While Justices and Magistrates don’t tend to be bribed (this would completely do away with the illusion of justice) ideological differences can lend to particular meta-corporate alliances. In a nutshell, the most important organisations within the Republic are the meta-corporations. Military and Law Enforcement Republic military and law enforcement are both run as offices of the President. For the most part, both the military and basic day-to-day policing are handled through private sub-contracting to local companies, most of which do a reasonable job at enforcing basic security (though occasional conflicts of interest can cause some headaches for just about everyone – even some well-meaning police). Military forces aren’t often hired for standing army-type contracts, but for the length of a particular engagement or a patrol period, enabling the corporations in control of particular areas the ability to get more bang for their buck (if they didn’t get what they were after, they choose another contractor at the end of the period). The Joint Republic Forces There are two offices, however, where there is still some level of governmental control. The Joint Republic Forces (or JRF) is the large-scale coordination centre for contracted (and a few standing) military forces. Those few standing forces, primarily located within the Sol system, come under the direct command of the JRF. Made up primarily of Hi-gen officers, the JRF focuses on strategic and tactical command of military priorities, doles out Republic military research funding, and generally acts as the gateway to Republic military-industrial funding. Thus, it becomes another arena for metacorporate conflict. The JRF isn’t just logistics and planning, however, it also maintains a number of large-scale military assets (such as what few battleship and carrier class vessels are part of the Republic forces) that would otherwise not be pursued due to their huge expense. The Republic Security Office The second office of some level of government control is the Republic Security Office (or RSO) which handles everything from criminal investigations (in much the same way as the FBI or Scotland Yard) to internal and external espionage and counter-espionage. The Republic takes a broad view on internal security, however, and countering “subversion” often extends to suppressing dissent in some decidedly sinister ways, earning them a not quite unearned reputation of secret police. Not quite as politicised as the JRF, the RSO is something of a player in its own right, but it largely plays with the metacorporations, rather than the government itself. Many of the higher-ups within the RSO are extremely canny operators, and rumours have it that a few of them are actually board-members of a number of metacorporations. Where the three mechanisms of government as well as the JRF could be regarded as the public face of the metacorporate influence, to truly to see how deep it goes, one has to plumb into the depths of the RSO. Metacorporations :''Main article: Metacorporation So called because of their level of abstraction beyond how we understand the corporation today, most of these huge companies usually represents simply a common set of interests pursued through a number of extremely large corporate bodies. While corporate bodies are themselves regarded as single legal entities, the meta-corporations have levels and chains of control so diffuse and Byzantine, that it is near-impossible to nail a single action to one meta-corporation or another. Some of the larger (or more important) Metacorporations are listed below. *Amalgamated Industries *The Eden Group *EXOL *Martian Trading Combine *Pacifica Holdings Shadow Corporations While many of the major corporations are somewhat directly identifiable as being members of this or that metacorporation, some are very well obfuscated behind layers of shell companies, trusts, and other such legal devices to hide their true backers. While many companies are loathe to associate with the so-called “Shadow Companies”, they often provide such a high level, or essential, service, that most cannot help but do business with them. Some examples are: *Oberman, Ngumo, and Dahl *Sentinel Consulting *Beijing Central Bank Category:Major Governments Category:Pages open to feedback